A new year of baking

I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and that 2011 is a blessed year for all.

We had a delightful time with friends last night. Our pastor and his wife had an open house and we enjoyed good company and yummy snacks.

My pastor enjoys cooking and baking besides wine making. We were talking about bread. He is currently baking artisan bread. We discussed some ways to add herbs. I told him I had a fabulous recipe for white bread I had just tried last week and my husband loved it.

Last week I had time to look through cook books and I was looking at Ina Garten's cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa at Home." The recipe is simple, but delicious.

Place water in bowl and add the yeast and sugar – allow to dissolve for 5 minutes. Add the milk, butter, and honey. Mix until blended. Add the egg yolks and 3 cups of flour and salt. Gradually add 2 more cups of flour. Add more flour if necessary. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a minute until the dough is smooth and elastic. Grease a bowl with butter or oil and the put the dough in the bowl, then turn over so the top is lightly buttered or oiled. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rise for 1 hour – it should double in volume.
Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans with butter. Divide the dough in half, roll each half into a loaf shape and place in a prepared pan. Cover again with a damp towel and allow to rise again for an hour until doubled in volume.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the tops with the egg white and bake the breads for 40-45 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped. Turn them out of the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

I could see adding some different things to zip it up like rosemary or oregano or even garlic. I checked on-line with some sites and discovered I can probably freeze the dough after the first rise and have loaves ready to be baked. Now, wouldn't that be cool?